Bisharp 625
Bisharp is a dual dark/steel type pokemon. it evolves from Pawniard at level 52. Review Some say Pokemon is like a game of chess, and it's all about predicting your opponent's next move. Well, Pawniard may be just the pawn, but it's capable of evolving into something a bit more capable in this chess game. Ok, cheesy chess analogies aside, Pawniard brings the Pokemon world the long sought type combiation of Dark/Steel-type. This gives it a whole ton of resistances, two immunities, and just three weaknesses, including one hefty 4x weakness to Fighting-type attacks. Pawniard's stats are meant to cut and cleave, so it carries good Attack, but also pretty decent Defense to back it up. Its other stats are fairly unremarkable, though. When it evolves into Bisharp at level 52 (ugh), its Attack soars to levels comparable to Sawk and Mienshao, while it also has nice Defense. The rest of its stats are rather underwhelming, but at least they're not terrible. Pawniard and Bisharp both have either the Inner Focus ability to prevent flinching, or the Defiant ability, which raises Pawniard's Attack by a whopping two stages for each stat lowered by an opponent (specficially an opponent; nice try Double or Triple Battle strategists). That's nice, plus it'll make your opponent think twice about using anything to mess with your stats! Sending Pawniard or Bisharp up against anything with Intimidate will be well worth it. When it comes to moves, you're going to run into a bit of a problem. It'll definitely come pre-equipped with Metal Claw and Assurance (level 33 and up) to cover its Steel- and Dark-type attacks respectively, but neither are overly strong, each hitting with only 50 power. It does have Slash to hit for 70 power, but that's fairly weak. It isn't until level 49 that it picks up Night Slash, the best Physical-based Dark-type attack shy of Crunch (which Pawniard clearly cannot learn), and then it's not until level 57 as a Bisharp (or 54 as a Pawniard if you don't mind waiting two levels) that it learns its best Steel-type attack, Iron Head, hitting for 80 power and having a chance of flinching. Iron Head is literally the strongest attack it can get, period, other than Payback (TM move) if you get damaged, so you'll see that is this Pokemon's definite drawback. It does have access to Iron Defense at level 46 (as Pawniard) should you want to play defensive and raise its defense. Guillotine at level 71 (as Bisharp) may sound cool, but it really isn't due to its low accuracy, so don't bother with it. Can TMs help Pawniard and Bisharp? A little bit, but mostly just for type coverage, since there's nothing inherently strong they can learn. X-Scissor, Brick Break, Dig, and Poison Jab are all fair options, as are Shadow Claw and Aerial Ace for extra type coverage. Payback is a great attack for Bisharp, which hits for 100 power rather than 50 if it acts second; thanks to its only average Speed, that's a possibility, but it is fast enough that it will not work reliably well against a lot of in-game Pokemon, so you may want to ignore it altogether and just stick with Night Slash (definitely replace Assurance with Payback, though). Return may be a good option for it after you've kept it on your team long enough to be happy. Post-game, you've got options like Stone Edge, Swords Dance, and Rock Polish to consider. While Pawniard and Bisharp may look very cool, they are lacking in super-powerful attacks. Not only that, but level 52 is pretty much too late for Pawniard to evolve if you have any hopes of taking on the Pokemon League with a Bisharp; Pawniard alone will surely let you down, and level 52 is definitely ahead of the curve. There's nothing saying you can't invest some time into training it to level 52 and taking them on anyway, but you just need to ask yourself... is it worth it? Check. (Not checkmate. Not yet.) Pokedex